Southern-Sòng 南宋 nèi dān 內丹 master from Yángzhōu 揚州 (Jiāng sū 江蘇). Zì Zōng dào 宗道; hào Bào yī zǐ 抱一子 (“Master Who Embraces the One” — from Lǎozǐ chapter 10). Active from the 1220s through the 1250s.
Lineage and formation. In 1223 Chén Xiǎnwēi met a “superior person” who taught him the true Way (per the notice in Schipper & Verellen 2004, 2:3934). This moment of transmission marks the beginning of his Daoist-alchemical formation; he subsequently became a prominent figure in the Southern-Sòng Zhè jiāng 浙江 / Jiāng sū 江蘇 nèi dān community.
Activity. In 1244 Wáng Yì 王逸 (later his disciple-preface-writer) visited Chén at the Yòu shèng guān 佑聖觀 in Hángzhōu 杭州 (the Southern-Sòng capital). This visit began the disciple-relationship that would result in the publication of Chén’s Wén shǐ jīng yán wài zhǐ in 1254.
Works.
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[[KR5c0117|Wén shǐ jīng yán wài zhǐ]] 文始經言外旨 (DZ 728, 1254) — interpretative commentary on the Wén shǐ zhēn jīng (the Guān Yǐn zǐ 關尹子). Originally in 3 juàn, expanded to 9 juàn in the Daozang. Also preserved in the Qīng Dàozàng jíyào (JY134) in a 2-juàn version.
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Zhōu yì cān tóng qì jiě 周易參同契解 (DZ 999) — his commentary on the Cān tóng qì 參同契 (the foundational alchemical classic of Wèi Bóyáng 魏伯陽). Dated 1234.
Both works reflect Chén’s nèi dān 內丹 scholarly orientation — reading Daoist classical texts through the framework of inner alchemy cultivation, but retaining textual-philological rigour.
Dating. Active 1223–1254. No precise lifedates. No CBDB record identified.
Doctrinal orientation. Chén Xiǎnwēi’s Bào yī zǐ hào — “Master Who Embraces the One” — signals his commitment to the shǒu yī 守一 (“holding the One”) doctrine central to mature Daoist meditation practice, extending back to Lǎozǐ 10 and 22 and developed further in the Nèi jǐng 內景 and Cān tóng qì 參同契 traditions. His two works together articulate a nèi dān-oriented synthesis of Yì jīng, Dàodé jīng, Guān Yǐn zǐ, and Cān tóng qì material — characteristic of late-Southern-Sòng elite Daoist scholarship.